'24 Partscaster Project

[JD01]

Got that blue body for about 35 quid.

[JD01]

@muttley will this be suitable:
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products ... ra-sustain

Or would this be better:
https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products ... el-saddles

[muttley]

Got that blue body for about 35 quid.

I will see what I have in my parts bin to get you started.

Let me know what you need and we can sort some bits for you to get it assembled and playing before you refine all the parts you may want.

Postage wont be as prohibitive from England to to Wales hopefully.

[JD01]

I'm just surprised how cheap the bridges are from northwest guitars. Wondering if they're either unsuitable or junk.

Shopping list as follows:
Blank strat scratchplate - I'll probably pick one from here:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265642499059 ... BMvoX66K9j
Neck - I'm currently keeping an eye on ebay - they've popping up for around 100 quid.
Bridge pickup - haven't chosen one yet, but I have a spare to work with to size my rout.
Neck pickup - not given it much though, I'm just going to choose whatever Strat pickup gets great reviews and sounds good in clips.
Vol pot
Tone pot (although I might go for two volume pots 'cos I never use the tone pot).
Input jack plug
4 way switch.
Machine heads.
Bridge/vibrato - as above.

What have I missed.

[WhiskeyJack]

that would be a 22 fret neck right?
That's what I always choose because I can't get by with 21 frets.

And I didn't send him the body because it was gonna cost 80-100 bucks to ship it

It seems to be much more expensive for you to send to us than the other way around. I've sent stuff to Shan and Greg before and it only cost a few quid. Recently @paulman looked at sending me something and it was prohibitively expensive too.

When i sent you that maple syrup it cost me three times the amount of the product to ship it. 5 times if i wanted a tracking number. It's mental.

[WhiskeyJack]

Cool project too @JD01 Will be cool to see how it all comes together for you buddy !!

[JD01]

That blue strat body turned up. Looks quite nice actually. Just deciding what scratchplate to get and I also have to get a neck. Then I'm gonna start routing it. I already have a Tele bridge pickup floating around which I can use to size the rout.

[muttley]

@JD01 These may help you.

Thinline.pdf

tele_body_drawing_revD.pdf

[muttley]

Let me know if you want any other drawings as I probably have them in my collection.

[JD01]

Haha, I was just gonna generally rout away until the hole is big enough.

[muttley]

Haha, I was just gonna generally rout away until the hole is big enough.

To be honest mate, that is not the best way to do it. What experience do you have with routers? I can skill you up a bit if you need. You can hack away all you like but it's far better to tool up, skill up and do a decent job without damaging the work piece or worse.

[JD01]

I've used a router a fair bit in work. I'm not gonna be a total simpleton about it, I will have a rough template of how big it needs to be.

I'm not gonna be doing any routing until I find a neck anyway and I'm struggling at the moment. I only want one session faffing with a router.

Thinking of looking at Fernandes necks too.

[JD01]

Mutt, what do you think of these totally unbranded necks?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225946098761 ... UMr4iMizYw

I just bought a pickguard - I think I want to get a 22 fret neck as the extra fret will cover up any dodgy routing at the neck pocket.

There's also this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166592437956 ... p_homepage

I'm fully expecting to have to do some fret levelling/polishing & nut slotting etc - I guess what I'm asking is are there some necks that are just shite and beyond help, or can you make pretty much anything work with a bit of time and effort.

[muttley]

Mutt, what do you think of these totally unbranded necks?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/225946098761 ... UMr4iMizYw

I just bought a pickguard - I think I want to get a 22 fret neck as the extra fret will cover up any dodgy routing at the neck pocket.

There's also this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166592437956 ... p_homepage

I'm fully expecting to have to do some fret levelling/polishing & nut slotting etc - I guess what I'm asking is are there some necks that are just shite and beyond help, or can you make pretty much anything work with a bit of time and effort.

Aligree are OK, I've built up a few of his pickup kits in the past. Not top range parts but all were usable. I use better these days. He imports them all from China but I haven't seen the necks up close so can't really comment.

If you can snag the 2nd one for £25 get it. Unless it is totally bowed or the rod is shot you can always get it back up to playing. You can't buy a maple blank and a rosewood board for that, hell if you cant get it working I'll buy it from you.

[Lt. Bob]

personally for something like a neck pocket I'd just use a Dremel ...... yeah it's slow but since it's slow you can be precise

[JD01]

personally for something like a neck pocket I'd just use a Dremel ...... yeah it's slow but since it's slow you can be precise

Fair shout. The mate who's helping me with it has plenty of tools.

[JD01]

@muttley You ever heard of this company?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256333852611 ... SwIzhlcb8d
Neck looks tidy.

[muttley]

No mate but browsing their stock they are similar to Aligree in that all those items are China made and imported. Not the finest items but normally perfectly serviceable. Pretty much all the items on ebay like that are from the same suppliers. If they come from Tiesco or Hosco etc them the seller would normally make a point of saying so.

[JD01]

Cool, it appears that unless I can luck into finding a 2nd hand Fender or Squire one for cheap, this is the sort of thing I'll be getting.

[WhiskeyJack]

That blue strat body turned up. Looks quite nice actually. Just deciding what scratchplate to get and I also have to get a neck. Then I'm gonna start routing it. I already have a Tele bridge pickup floating around which I can use to size the rout.

Hope you have a template or some guides...

Speaking from very recent experience.